Lieutenant[2]Harvey Bullock was a top investigator for the Gotham Police Department who worked directly under Commissioner Gordon. Known for his love of food, he was still quite an effective cop in his own right, although probably not quite as effective as he would like to think he was. He doesn't trust or like Batman, even considering him a criminal at times, but has still teamed up with him to keep Gotham safe on numerous occasions.

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History

Harvey Bullock joined the Gotham police in the early 1980s.[1] In his days as a beat cop, he was partnered with Jonesy. They witnessed what would later become the Batman during a highway chase.[3] Later, officer Bullock was assigned to the crime scene of the murder of John and Mary Grayson.[4]

After working as a uniformed officer, Bullock was promoted and transferred to Vice. He was tenacious in his apprehension of many drug dealers, including Vincent Starkey.[1] His ferocity and questionable tactics earned him a long dossier at Internal Affairs.

Despite Internal Affairs breathing down his neck, Bullock made it to the Special Crimes Unit. Now a Lieutenant, Bullock was known for getting results.[5] Bullock made no apologies for his approach to his work and at one point even led a task force aimed at bringing Batman to justice. This assignment brought him into conflict with James Gordon, who considered the whole idea to be a fiasco.

Bullock and Batman didn't normally see eye to eye, although they would cooperate with each other when necessary. Indeed, Bullock went to Batman for help when he was faced with numerous death threats from an unknown person, as his checkered past precluded him from going to the Police Department for help. Subsequently, the two worked together to solve the problem. As it turned out, Bullock's landlord was trying to scare him away because of his bad habits. Following this, Bullock's respect for Batman grew further.

In spite of his gruff exterior, Bullock did have a softer side, though he rarely showed it. For example, while he was playing the role Santa during a stakeout; he met the daughter of a man he sent to prison and gave her money so she could buy herself something for Christmas. Additionally, he was sympathetic to Gordon's grief when Batman was thought to have been killed.

He eventually found a partner in the slightly more mild-mannered Renee Montoya, with whom he had frequently worked when she was still in the uniformed division. Harvey and Renee continued to work together for years, even after she was promoted to Detective, becoming good friends along the way. Some time later, he was given a new partner: Sonia Alcana.[6]

Background information

In the DC comics, Harvey Bullock is considerably more competent than his DCAU counterpart. He regularly engages in police brutality, but is still dedicated to the city and loyal to Gordon, and his precinct will swear that he is an honest cop (honesty being a relative term in the GPD). His distrust of Batman is also present, though he has a better relationship with Nightwing over their love of old movies. Now that Nightwing has taken up the cowl of Batman, he has even teamed up with him.

Robert Costanzo reprised his role of Harvey Bullock in the 2013 video game Batman: Arkham Origins, although it is not in the same continuity with the DCAU.